Newly anointed Umno emperor Najib and BN's instant mentri besar eclipsed by their own propaganda
For me the BN ceramah in Simpang with featured guest speaker Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad (who had applied to rejoin Umno 24 hours earlier) was a tiny glimpse of hell on earth.
It was a blisteringly hot morning and all the shady spots were spilling over with betudunged Wanita Umno, diehard Umno grassroots veterans, listless civil servants, and inveterate bootlickers from BN component parties.
BN ceramah at Simpang: not exactly an enthusiastic or inspired audience
In fact, it appeared that the majority of the estimated 2,000 odd crowd consisted of government servants who had been instructed to make up the numbers for the return of the Mean Old Man of Ketuanan Melayu politics.
Pamphlets demonizing the evil traitor, that closet Communist Nizar Jamaluddin, the Mentri Besar who refused to resign when the Sultan instructed him to, were handed out by a platoon of paid workers. No one in the Pakatan Rakyat leadership was spared. Well, if you can't win the argument through sound reasoning, resort to unmitigated calumny.
Cultural dancers from the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts & Heritage
A heady mix of wax culture and brownneck politics
Like all Umno/BN sponsored events the atmosphere was oppressive and claustrophobic in its stagnant mediocrity. This particular ceramah offered free food and entertainment in the form of cultural performances arranged by the Ministry of Unity, Culture, Arts & Heritage (don't bother filing a complaint with the Election Commission, this sort of hanky-panky is par for the course with a political party that regards itself as the permanent, unremovable government of Malaysia).
Getting ready to welcome the Mahafiraun with muhibbah drums
Just for fun I attended the ceramah wearing a PKR cap while another member of the Barisan Rakyat support group went in her NO-TO-ISA T-shirt. Naturally we were the recipients of suspicious looks, though at no time did we encounter outright hostility - except when an SB guy pointed his camera at me. I could sense his ingrained xenophobia oozing through every pore; indeed, I could almost see his hackles rise.
Musuh dalam selimut (enemy in the blanket) at the BN ceramah
What immediately struck me was the sheer predictability and tedium of the entire exercise. The ceramah was to mark Mahathir's return to Umno and the hoped-for rejuvenating effect on Malay voters of seeing the Grand Old Patriarch realigned with the party's "new" management. Umno's traditional power base has always been the culturally insular rural Malay. During the Mahathir era a huge proportion of Malays were urbanized and became instant millionaires (and even billionaires) by venturing into construction. His Vision 2020 involved a great deal of expensive infrastructure.
Suspected Special Branch officer's car with disarmingly honest sticker
In fact, if I can encapsulate Mahathir's greatest failure as the nation's godlike leader for 22 years, it was his gross overemphasis on the purely physical and superficial aspects of development, to the detriment of aesthetical, ethical and spiritual evolution and maturity. The result, sadly, is an entire generation of Malaysians who grew up craving the outward trappings of success, but without a clue about their own abysmal lack of intellectual depth and range - and without any authentic moral core apart from subscribing to petty notions of conspicuous piety, shallow religiosity, and sheer hypocrisy.
An oversupply of Little Napoleons in flak jackets
Since 1970 Umno has deliberately fostered a national culture of conformity and unquestioning loyalty to emblems of authority. This is what spawns mediocrity and the copycat mentality. And this was the energetic emanation of the docile and uninspired crowd that gathered under white tents to greet the prodigal Malay hero, Tun Dr Mahathir. It was the same sort of dead, depressing psychic atmosphere one might expect to encounter in any fascist, totalitarian culture held together by a doctrine of racial supremacy and topped off by chronic communal angst and ego insecurity.
Nizar Jamaluddin and his DAP state exco: ardent fans of the Marx brothers?
This particular congregation of well-behaved, authority-revering folk was not entirely unlovable nor were they without charm. I saw them essentially as descendants of countless generations of humble rice farmers, fisherfolk and itinerant traders. They had been fed a whole lot of propaganda about their unquestionable claim to indigenousness and the divine right of their rulers to continue bamboozling them unto forever.
Umno stalwart's car sticker: "Malays will lose power if too complacent..."
All that's required to reprogram and upgrade their neural circuitry is exposure to funkier music, more adventurous art, and a generous dose of intelligent discourse in the mainstream media - once they are unfettered by repressive laws.
Ah, but that would inevitably signal the abrupt demise of Umno. When its grassroots power base begins to awaken from generations of cultural stupor and throws off its tempurung, Umno members will defect to the much sexier Pakatan Rakyat.
Excitement ripples through the crowd as the "popstar" puppetmaster arrives
A clamor of Malay, Chinese and Indian drums signaled the arrival of featured speaker and Umno "secret weapon" Tun Dr Mahathir. The air turned fetid with the sweat of secret policemen and an absurd clutter of video cameras and photographers. Perfunctory cries of "Hidup Mahathir!" added to the obnoxiousness of the situation. People, this is the 21st century. Makes my flesh creep to hear people yelling stuff like "Hail Caesar!" or "Heil Hitler!"
The habitual sneer I shall not miss when the geezer finally goes
I made a half-hearted attempt to get up close enough to snap a picture of the past master of Machiavellian politics - but gave up when I realized I'd have to force my way through a dense thicket of frenzied adulators. In any case, we've all seen more than enough images of the incurable Dr M during his seemingly interminable reign as the Great Pharaoh of New Egypt aka Bolehland.
I couldn't bear the oppressive heat and diabolical mundanity of the ceramah a minute longer. The others in the party felt the same way too, so we all left before Dr M's speech. When we got to where our van was parked, we found the entire street doubleparked and there was no way we could squeeze out of that mess. None of us could endure the thought of staying till the whole circus act was over. Imagine our joy and relief when a couple of cabs showed up magically to transport us to the cozy familiarity of our makeshift media center at the Cherry Inn.
On the spur of the moment I decided to poke my nose into the by-election festivities in Bukit Gantang instead of leaving it glued to my computer screen. It so happened that a couple of really cool friends were heading up to Taiping in the evening, so I hitched a ride with them. I'm now reporting from the Cherry Inn where the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers led by Haris Ibrahim and Bernard Khoo are holed up on several floors. We just returned from a massive ceramah hosted by the DAP in Simpang where the entire Pakatan Rakyat pantheon was present. We arrived minutes after Nizar Jamaluddin left, but were just in time for Anwar Ibrahim's soon-to-be-famous Tun Perak speech.
Photo by Antares
At the main table were Zaid Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Ronnie Liu, Teresa Kok, Karpal Singh (accompanied by Gobind Deo), Liew Chin Tong, and several others I didn't recognize. There were more than 5,000 seated by some estimates and a non-dining crowd that spilled over the entire area. Thunderous applause greeted Karpal when his wheelchair was lifted onto the stage, and another tumultuous eruption of spontaneous welcome signaled Tok Guru Nik Aziz's turn to address the receptive crowd.
"Nizar is a modern day Tun Perak whose actions serve the public good, not self-interest." (Photo by Antares)
Photo by Shanghaifish
It's a very different feeling to be in the thick of the action instead of just reading other bloggers' reports. The noise and confusion in the inostentatious Chinese restaurant where the ceramah was held, the sea of expectant faces, the palpable sense of solidarity in the air. And the sheer incongruity of seeing clusters of skull-capped PAS members mingling so easily with the predominantly Chinese crowd, focused on and united by a common goal - regime change in the immediate future, not one generation from now!
Photo by Shanghaifish
But for now it was enough to ensure a massive victory for Nizar Jamaluddin, even if his winning the Bukit Gantang seat may make it more complicated for him to return to being the one and only legitimate Mentri Besar of Perak, unless he manages to clone himself.
Photos by Shanghaifish
The energy at the ceramah was electric. Making our way through the throng who had paid RM300 per table to show support and listen to the featured speakers, I could sense the quiet resolve in their hearts and the warm camaraderie of souls conjoined in a shared determination to, once and for all, liberate our beloved country from unjust laws and outlaws in high office.
Photos by Antares
Earlier, as we entered the Bukit Gantang district, we were greeted by the surreal sight of dozens of police trucks and riot squad vehicles parked along an entire stretch of road and in the middle of roundabouts. Totally unnecessary. An efficient contingent of traffic police plus a couple dozen uniformed officers would have been more than adequate to ensure peaceful proceedings. In any event, the police were well-behaved tonight - as they ought to be every night.
Photo by Antares
My Sony CyberShot failed to perform (it only works properly in the day) so I've borrowed a few shots snapped by Shanghaifish. Thanks, bro!
Photo by Antares
The groundswell of optimism I felt just before the 12th general election was very much alive at the Simpang ceramah. It's a glorious experience to be surrounded by friendly faces aglow with the passion of their desire for a Malaysia renewed and transformed, cleansed of tyranny at last and free from the disease of dishonorable misrule.
Photo by Shanghaifish
There was much talk of BN's underhanded tactics. When you have access to a bottomless purse, you automatically assume everybody has a price and can be bought. The millions dangled before Pakatan MPs (in Kedah, Perak and Selangor) in a desperate attempt to induce them to switch sides... absolutely obscene!
Photo by Shanghaifish
It's truly heartening to know there are still some politicians committed to serving the people who voted them in; who will not betray the rakyat's trust. I salute all the Pakatan MPs who have resisted temptation and emerged with their conscience clear and their honor intact. All right, people, let's roll up our sleeves and finish what we started on March 8th, 2008....
I generally detest powerpoint shows (for some reason they tend to jam at the end, forcing me to restart my laptop) but friends insist on sending them to me. Once in a while I receive one that contains such gorgeous images I can't bear to delete it. So I just extract the images for occasions such as this when I don't feel like raving and ranting about the political rollercoaster ride we're on. Here are some inspiring images captured by several German photographers (pity there are no credits on the powerpoint show): they help us transcend, at least for a few precious moments, our routine anthropocentrism and existential myopia.
Raja Bok reunited with Antares at Kg Pertak 28 March 2009 (pic by Ana Lewis)
Last weekend I had the pleasure of renewing my 30-year acquaintance with a really lovely guy I've always known as Bok, though his official name is Raja Zailan Putra Raja Dato' Seri Haji Azam.
A mutual friend introduced us back in 1979 or 1980. I knew at the time that Bok boasted a royal pedigree. I saw photographs in his modest house of colorful characters in courtly regalia.
One that stood out was of Bok's great-grandfather, Raja Muda Abdullah (right), who signed the 1874 Pangkor Treaty with Sir Andrew Clarke and was anointed Sultan Abdullah of Perak.
Things started to go awry soon after that when the British sent a colonial officer named James Wheeler Woodford Birch (3 April 1826 - 2 November 1875) to Perak to serve as advisor to the Sultan.
From the standpoint of the Malay chiefs, Birch was arrogant and insensitive to local customs. He had no understanding of the Malay psyche and absolutely no facility with the language. Birch was appalled at the local practice of capturing Orang Asli and turning them into household slaves. He ordered an immediate stop to such barbaric activities. While it may have been a laudable act on Birch's part, it was akin to forcing a bunch of carnivores to go vegetarian overnight. His missionary zeal to civilize the natives cost Birch his life.
Dato' Maharajalela, who got the bulk of his income from capturing and selling Orang Asli as slaves, ganged up with a few disgruntled slave-traders and, on 2 November 1875, assassinated James Birch while he was taking his bath in the riverine village of Pasir Salak.
This led to the Perak War which lasted several months as British forces hunted down the leaders of the Malay rebellion. Dato' Maharajalela was captured and hanged along with other accomplices, while Sultan Abdullah was found guilty of complicity in the murder of J.W.W. Birch and exiled to the Seychelles for 16 years. One of Abdullah's cousins was installed as Sultan in his stead. It is from this lineage that the present Perak succession derives.
Bok, currently CEO of an insurance brokerage, told me he's the eldest male heir in his family. As such, when his father died several years ago, the succession would have passed to him. But for a twist of fate that saw his great-grandfather Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah deposed by the British in 1877, I would have been conversing last weekend in Pertak Village with the reigning Sultan of Perak.
Needless to say, there are distinct compensations for not being born in a palace. For one thing, Raja Zailan Putra has always been a jovial, easygoing, fun-loving chap with a wide circle of friends. His lifestyle isn't exactly conventional and he cherishes his personal freedom to be whoever and whatever he pleases. Everybody calls him Bok anyway and even if he were to appear in the full formal regalia befitting his royal status, his friends would probably insist on calling him Raja Bok.
In short, Bok has been able to live a relatively normal life, owing to the fact that his bloodline was removed by British decree from the Perak succession three generations ago, as punishment for rebelling against the colonial masters. There are many other royals who, like Bok, enjoy a certain measure of freedom from stuffy protocol, either because they aren't on the shortlist for royal succession - or because they have outgrown the musty traditions that would severely curb their individual freedom. Raja Petra Kamarudin is a prominent example of someone with royal pedigree who has consciously chosen to align himself with the public good rather than self-servingly uphold private interests and special privileges. There are several other maverick royals I am personally acquainted with but I won't name them here, because they may not be too keen on publicity.
I hadn't seen Bok in more than 20 years, so it was a great delight to bump into him driving a 4X4 along the old logging trail just outside Pertak Village. Mutual friends had arranged a camping trip by the river and Bok decided to come. It was genuinely sweet to renew our friendship and to note that this man who should have been a king had adapted so well to the life of a commoner.
Seeing Bok was a powerful reminder that, ultimately, what matters most is the humanity each of us is born with. The outer trappings are really quite insignificant. A pirate king remains a pirate no matter how reputable his tailor. And a noble soul stays noble, no matter how dire his or her earthly circumstances.
Another friend recently revealed that he grew up in Kuala Terengganu near the Istana and used to play badminton with the young Mizan Zainal Abidin who related to him like any other kid. But when Mizan was named the crown prince, things rapidly changed. Court officials forbade the boy from mixing with his old school friends and the lad became cloistered in preparation for his future role as Sultan of Terengganu (and now the Yang Di Pertuan Agong).
Over the years, surrounded constantly by genuflecting servants, wizened counselors and persnickety courtiers, anyone would turn schizophrenic. The split between public and private personas would grow ever wider. What the public is allowed to see would be a stern-faced, unsmiling, overdressed symbol of hereditary power; while the private self either becomes cynical, detached and indifferent - or turns feral, debauched and dissolute.
One of my favorite stories of all time is about the Prince and the Pauper who traded places. I've often wondered if I would do a Siddhartha and walk out of the palace if I happened to be born into a royal bloodline.
In 1989 I experienced vivid "flashbacks" and "crosstalk" from parallel lives which forced me to be a lot more open to "reincarnational" scenarios. In several lifetimes I was of royal lineage - and the experience was never entirely happy. More than once I "remembered" being betrayed and murdered by those close to me. In short, life in a palace isn't exactly a bed of roses - and even if it is, there are always a few thorny aspects.
This is why I sometimes feel great sympathy for those trapped amidst the pompous paraphernalia and robotic rigmaroles of royalty. They are like the magical nightingale in a gilded cage, imprisoned by public expectations and compelled to sacrifice their personal lives for the sake of tribal continuity.
It's easy to view each successor to the throne as a Gulliver bound by Lilliputian constraints. The Little People scurrying around the Great Personage have a vested interest in keeping the Great Personage on a short leash. Like any institutionalized priesthood, the courtiers are the ones who ensure that protocols endure, for it assures them and their posterity a comfortable livelihood.
Coronation of Napoleon
The court officials have learnt to use pomp and circumstance and grandiloquent ceremony to shock and awe the Great Unwashed into superstitious subservience to specific bloodlines. But, ultimately, it's all a gigantic deception like ritual theatre. Strip away the fancy costume, the shiny headgear and the inscrutable mask... and what stands revealed is a human being like you and me.
I told Bok I was really intrigued by his family history. He said there was a website with some information, including a detailed genealogy. I must remind him to send me the link. Who knows, the wheel of fortune is constantly in spin.
One day you could be the prime minister elect, and the next day a jailbird, and vice versa.
As I searched the web for images to illustrate this story, I realized that April 3rd happens to be James Birch's birthday. The Wiki entry on Birch names Frank Swettenham as the British Resident who succeeded Birch - a detail that gave me goosebumps, since I have long suspected that I might well have been most recently incarnate on this earth in the guise of a Maddog Englishman and empire-builder named Frank Athelstane Swettenham!
James Wheeler Woodford Birch did not die in vain, for the colonial officers who were subsequently assigned to Malaya were much better equipped and better prepared for their roles. Rather than be seen to act high-handedly on their own behalf, the Residents learned to manipulate the Malay rulers to do their bidding, knowing full well the natives' tendency to grovel before their sultans in superstitious awe. Some Malay aristocrats educated in England appear to have learned a few useful tricks from their erstwhile colonial masters.
THE PERAK SULTANATE
1. Sultan Muzaffar Shah (1528-1540 A.D.) 2. Sultan Mansur Shah I (1549-1577 A.D.) 3. Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin (1577-1584 A.D.) 4. Sultan Tajul Ariffin Shah (1584-1594 A.D.) 5. Sultan Alauddin Shah (1594-1603 A.D.) 6. Sultan Mukaddam Shah (1603-1619 A.D.) 7. Sultan Mansur Shah II (1619-1627 A.D.) 8. Sultan Mahmud Shah (1627-1630 A.D.) 9. Sultan Salehuddin Shah (1630- 635 A.D.) 10. Sultan Muzzaffar Shah II (1636-1653 A.D.) 11. Sultan Mahmud Iskandar Shah (1653-1720 A.D.) 12. Sultan Alauddin Mughayat Shah (1720-1728 A.D.) 13. Sultan Mudzaffar Shah III (1728-1744 A.D.) 14. Sultan Muhammad Shah (1744-1750 A.D.) 15. Sultan Iskandar Zulkarnain (1754-1764 A.D.) 16. Sultan Mahmud Shah (1764-1771 A.D.) 17. Sultan Alauddin Mansur Shah (1771-1786 A.D.) 18. Sultan Ahmaddin Shah (1786-1806 A.D.) 19. Sultan Abdul Malek Shah (1806-1818 A.D.) 20. Sultan Abdullah Mu'azzam Shah (1818-1830 A.D.) 21. Sultan Shahabuddin Ri'ayat Shah (1830-1851 A.D.) 22. Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah (1851-1857 A.D.) 23. Sultan Ja'afar Shafuddin Shah (1857-1865 A.D.) 24. Sultan Ali Al-Mukammil Innayat Shah (1865-1871 A.D.) 25. Sultan Ismail Mu'abiddin Ri'ayat Shah (1871-1874 A.D.) 26. Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah (1874-1877 A.D.) 27. Sultan Yusuf Sharifuddin Mu'azal Shah (1877-1887 A.D.) 28. Sultan Idris Murshidul Azam Shah (1887-1916 A.D.) 29. Sultan Abdul Jalil Nasiruddin Shah (1916-1918 A.D.) 30. Sultan Alang Iskandar Shah (1918-1938 A.D.) 31. Sultan Abdul Aziz Al-Mutasimbillah Shah (1938-1948 A.D.) 32. Sultan Yusuff Izzuddin Shah (1948-1963 A.D.) 33. Sultan Idris Iskandar Shah (1963-1984 A.D.) 34. Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah (1984-present)
BN-appointed menteri besar Zambry Abdul Kadir (left) thinks he is very slick and smart. Sadly, he has shown himself to be very shallow and slow.
He very gleefully posed what Malaysiakini called a “pertinent question” to the Menteri Besar of Perak, Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, thinking he had delightfully delivered a body blow, damned his rival, and driven him to the ground. Zambry claimed that Nizar had stated his position as ‘Pasir Panjang assemblyman’ and not as ‘menteri besar’ in his nomination papers filed last Saturday, to contest the Bukit Gantang by-election on April 7.
“All this while, he has been telling the whole world he is the lawful menteri besar. So why didn’t he address himself as the menteri besar in the nomination papers?” exclaimed Zambry, much to the delight of the crowd comprising mainly women and the elderly. (M'kini)
The answer is very simple and it reflects how astute a politician Nizar really is. He has taken into account the politicial realities that he has to contend with - realities that appear more and more grotesque with each passing day in Bukit Gantang.
If he had stated that he is the Menteri Besar of Perak, his victory in the by-election will be challenged by Umno and its cohorts. Yes, this may sound ridiculous, but what is no longer ridiculous with regard to the powers that be? So here goes.
The Election Commission, which decided to play politics to put the fraudulent Perak State Government in power, will declare that Nizar had made a "fraudulent claim" in the nomination papers!
Or Umno could resort to an Election Court and they could look for the most junior judge (judicial commissioner) in Perak (which has made the judiciary the butt of everyone's jokes by his jaundiced judgments) to decide that Nizar's declaration was technically faulty.
Or the police, under the instructions of the Home Minister, who is slowly being nursed back to health after a badly bruised ego as a result of being rejected by his own party, could arrest Nizar for "impersonation"!
Nizar is not so naïve as Zambry so desperately tries to project him. He is a humble man with nerves of steel. In fact, he does not need to state in his nomination papers that he is the true Menteri Besar. We Perakians know it in our hearts, and that would suffice.
It would be best that Zambry zips up, for his ignorance is becoming very glaring especially in Bukit Gantang.
That's right, good voters of Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang and Batang Ai, please go back to your respective constituencies on April 7th... AND VOTE LIKE CRAZY FOR HOPE!
A community service message from the Democratic Action Party, uploaded 27 March 2009. Please pass this link around!
Meanwhile in a related development, the police chief issued a warning to all political parties not to incite, provoke or utter words that are deemed to be seditious.
Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan also said that they must avoid making unfounded and baseless allegations on their opponents or the party they represented.
"Police will be monitoring all political ceramah and will record them. We urge everyone including supporters not to provoke or taunt anyone during their campaigns," he said in a statement today.
Musa also added that the police would beef up security in all three by-election spots to prevent untoward incidents.
Even if Altantuya Shaariibuu never existed... and therefore never met Najib Abdul Razak or Abdul Razak Baginda... never demanded USD500,000 for keeping mum about backroom negotiations she was privy to over the purchase of three submarines for the Malaysian Navy in 2005... and therefore was never abducted on the evening of 19 October 2006 by police officers in front of eyewitnesses, toyed with like a trapped mouse, shot twice in the head and then blown to smithereens with C4 military-grade explosives... that still does not immunize the erstwhile defence minister from being investigated for corruption of the highest order.
Kickbacks, okay, commissions amounting to hundreds of millions of ringgit cannot be cavalierly swept under the Umno carpet.
What about the PSC Naval Dockyard fiasco involving billions in inexplicable losses? As defence minister at the time, Najib Razak should have been immediately sacked for gross mismanagement. This extraordinary debacle was never investigated and no heads were seen to roll. Amin Shah, the Umno crony responsible for the grotesque budget overruns, reportedly fled the country. He ought to be doing time for embezzlement or criminal breach of contract.
Instead, against the wishes of more than 90% of the electorate, Najib Razak is on the verge of being anointed by Umno as Malaysia's sixth prime minister. Correction: CRIME minister!
Where got meaning, I ask you?
As for Musa Hassan's outrageous warning...
HOW DARE YOU DICTATE TO THE RAKYAT, YOUR EMPLOYERS?
You, sir, are essentially the nation's Chief Security Guard. We, the rakyat, pay your salary to safeguard our property and our public spaces. We do not take instructions from our security guards, do you understand? Of late, your personnel have behaved so despicably you deserve not only to be IMMEDIATELY SACKED... but thoroughly investigated for all your alleged misdeeds since 1998. Musa Hassan, I hold you personally responsible for the absolute and utter degradation of the Malaysian police, whose reputation for criminal misbehavior has sunk far below that of the most vicious street gang.
You can make people fear you... but you can't make them respect or trust you. I know you see yourself as a tough guy, tougher than even Rahim Noor. However, less than a year ago you underwent heart bypass surgery. Have you been listening to your heart? I guess not! Instead, you choose to obey your criminal masters in Umno. You have joined forces with the crime minister - the biggest desperado in the country - and you are waging war against the rakyat. Do you HONESTLY believe you are serving your goddam bangsa dan agama? Musa Hassan, I urge you to repent and voluntarily step down. I'm sure the rakyat will find it in their hearts to forgive you and let you spend the rest of your days in peace, making amends.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics began to crumble and disintegrate into dozens of semi-autonomous countries. Russia came under the control of powerful Mafia-style crime syndicates and renegade generals. It's a miracle the country still exists. And look at the tragedy that befell Zimbabwe when that hideous monster Robert Mugabe rose to power... yes, I'm talking about Mahathir's bosom buddy, birds of a feather!
We don't want this to happen to our beloved Malaysia. But it appears that the crime syndicates, masquerading as Captains of Industry and the corporate elite, are determined to suffocate our newborn democracy in its crib - so that they can continue with impunity their 50-year rape and pillage of the nation's wealth. Not only are you liars, hypocrites, thieves and murderers... you are about to commit infanticide!
I regard it as my moral duty to thwart your evil designs. Anyone else care to join me?
"There are two kinds of mystics in the world - the optimystics, and the pessimystics. The pessimystics are telling us, ‘The sky is falling!’ The optimystics say, ‘No, it only looks that way because we are ascending." ~ Swami Beyondananda
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." ~ Albert Einstein
Have you ever wondered why on earth in the 21st century we still have statutes against oral and anal sex? Not only are these activities ominously classified as "acts against the order of nature" - they are also punishable with caning and imprisonment of up to 20 years! Each day that such nonsensical laws continue to exist in our legal statutes, they make a complete mockery of reason and sanity.
CONGRATULATIONS, MANIKUMAR! 
DAMN GOOD FIGHT, JAWAH! 
You can run but you can't win, bub.
Arf arf!
